Set...

To prepare for tomorrow's start of our month of No Disposable Plastic, I went out and picked up a few more critical items. And by critical, I mean that toilet paper was one of those items. Very critical. Since we haven't had the bidet installed yet...

Last minute prep items for the No Disposable Plastic Challenge!

The laundry detergent was not a problem - most powdered detergent comes in cardboard boxes, and Seventh Generation offers it. We already use the Seventh Generation powdered dishwasher detergent in the cardboard box, and we've been pretty happy with it. It is about the same price or cheaper than the equivalent Seventh Generation liquid detergent that we have been using. 

The individually-wrapped toilet paper is actually slightly cheaper than the brand Thom likes. It's definitely thinner, though, so we'll see what he thinks.

I bought some bulk shea butter lotion from Eco Collective, and when you bring your own container (this tin was originally for fennel pollen), they weigh it before and after and then charge you by weight. It was $1.62 for a half-tin.

The Booda Butter deodorant (kind of a paste in a glass container with a metal cap - "coconut cream" scent) and lip balm I found at PCC. The deodorant is twice as expensive as the kind I normally use (Secret solid). I tried the mint lip balm, and I liked it - it comes in a cardboard tube and you push up from the bottom to advance the stick. Kinda like those Flintstone frozen yogurt pushups we had when we were kids. It is $3.49 at PCC, as compared to Burt's Bees mint lip balm at $2.99 at Fred Meyer.I would guess it would last the same amount of applications, but I'm not sure.

We'll see how it goes!

Ready...

Getting ready! T-minus two days and counting until the No Disposable Plastic Challenge begins!


Paper towel replacements (because they come wrapped in plastic): I picked up some disposable cotton towels (washable replacements for paper towels) from Eco Collective a few days ago. $38 for a 12-pack, which would also buy me 35-65 rolls of paper towels. If only they came wrapped in paper - jeez!


Personal care products: this is going to be a tough one. Thom and I browsed PCC Natural Market in Ballard, and they have bulk all sorts of things, as does Eco Collective. But there is no problem with personal care products... as long as your brand loyalty is pretty low...


PCC market has bulk personal care items - you just have to buy their reusable containers (or bring ones of the same size with you). There are various body oils, soaps, and scented bath salts. I was wondering about the dishwashing soap myself, but I suppose any refillable liquid soap would do (not too perfumey, though)

Eco Collective has refillable shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, etc. I felt bad about the big plastic jugs underneath, though.


But we are set for toothpaste now. It's really hard to find toothpaste in metal containers anymore, although Tom's of Maine used to make it (plastic caps though). Most of the natural toothpastes at PCC come in plastic tubes. But we found a solution!

I got myself a bamboo toothbrush, that comes in 100% biodegradable packaging - the plastic wrapper is plant-based (unfortunately the bristles are recyclable nylon) "Crush Brush" are tablets that you crush into powder with your teeth and then put a wet toothbrush in your mouth - it fizzes up a little, and is an unexpected sensation, but afterward it feels very clean!

Be Prepared!

Weaning oneself off plastic means that it is tougher to be spontaneous. If you are aiming for maximum spontaneity, then you need to be prepared!
I found this out by casually ordering a Bloody Mary when we were out for breakfast. What did I not bring with me? A reusable straw, of course!


Cocktails such as this Bloody Mary often come with plastic straws :(

And of course, not even thinking about it, I failed to order my drink sans-straw. For me, I actually enjoy using a straw with my Bloody Mary because sometimes I forget to order with no salt on the rim. Like I just did. The funny thing is, I do have (at least) one reusable straw at home. It is made of a thick plastic, and originally came inside a camping thermos-type cup that I borrowed from a friend (Lawrence, let me know if you have been looking for this...)


But not to fear if you don't have a camping cup with an extra heavy-duty straw! Eco Collective is a store in Ballard that sells reusable glass and stainless steel straws. Regular AND Bubble Tea size - how do you like that? Some of them come in a little kit that includes a custom brush-type thingy for cleaning the inside. As for carrying it around, you would need some sort of tube container or a long narrow padded bag. I bet they have something like that on Etsy.

Straw/Chopstick Travel Bag 

Well, look at that - they do! Now I can be prepared in style!

BYOC - Bring Your Own Container!

Yesterday afternoon, I went to a Starbucks in Bellevue and, due to some advance planning on my part, I brought my own cup. They gave me a 10 cent discount for bringing my own cup, so... savings!

A carabiner is handy to clip my coffee cup onto my computer bag. Very stylish, and I like to think the carabiner makes me look like a bad-ass.

I was curious, and asked the barista how typical it was for people to bring their own cup (in case you hadn't noticed, they have a LOT of cups and travel mugs for sale, which I have to assume are actually purchased from time to time). He told me that about 5% of customers bring their own reusable containers., but that number goes up when they run occasional "free drip refill" months with the purchase of a cup. I told him about my project, and it really got him thinking!


I also went to the grocery store, in this case my local QFC in Ballard, and perused the bulk aisle. Bulk food selection varies quite a bit from store to store, and this one had a good selection of nuts, dried legumes and fruits, and granola. I decided to buy some roasted peanuts. To avoid using the plastic baggies, I used a small brown paper bag that I had brought from home (although these are available in the mushrooms area, bakery area, and at the checkout bagging area).

I used a paper bag to weigh out the bulk peanuts. Unfortunately I overserved myself a bit.

This QFC has a scale on which you weight the item. You punch in the item number, and then print out a label. an unfortunate aspect of using a paper bag is that it is tricky to judge how much is in your bag. Of course you can feel the weight, but I usually judge it by eye. Next time! So I ended up with more in my bag than I really wanted, but that's okay. It turned out that I saved $0.83 per pound by buying in bulk, so... savings again!

Before the Challenge: Being Aware of My Plastic Usage

Going to the grocery store: I can use paper bags for measuring out bulk items, and I have breathable cheese bags that can be used at the deli for both sliced meats and cheeses, and a reusable glass container with a plastic lid for other packaged items.

Let me describe my day yesterday, in terms of awareness of single-use plastic consumption.

• Took a shower: all these single-use shampoo and body wash containers! I have heard that there are some companies that offer refills in milk carton type containers.
• We already use bar soap (either cardboard or no packaging) instead of liquid hand soap, but there may be hand soap refills for those who do use them.
• Coffee: If I buy Peet's from the grocery store, it comes in a plastic bag. But if I go to a Peet's (the closest one is 4 miles from my house) and order ground coffee, it comes in a paper bag. Alternatively, I can try a different brand that comes in a paper bag, like Tony's or Stumptown - there are lots of them.
• Fed the cats - their kibble comes in a big plastic bag. I think that All the Best Pet Care sells bulk food, and there are brands that use paper bags - I remember how fun it was to undo the string on the paper Meow Mix bag when I was a kid.
• Picked up prescription: the little orange plastic bottles with the white caps. Next time I will try using my own container, but this would mean not calling ahead, but going in and handing them the previous (empty) bottle. I don't even know if reuse of prescription bottles is even legal in Washington State.
• Went to Tall Grass bakery to try their sandwich bread (our standard bread comes sliced in a plastic bag). Unsliced bread comes in a paper bag, so my baguette and seeded dark rye loaf were fine, but after Madison sliced the sandwich loaf, she put it in a plastic bag with the tiny breathing holes. The solution here is to keep the bag and reuse it, or not have it sliced.
• Replaced the battery in my kitchen scale. Batteries will always come in plastic blister packs - there is no getting around it. However, I will look into using rechargeable batteries to at least reduce the consumption.
• Did laundry: Seventh Generation offers powdered detergent in a box, so we will use that instead of liquid detergent from a plastic jug.
• Made dinner: the chicken breast came in Styrofoam and plastic packaging, so I will have to go to the butcher directly and have them wrap it in just paper. For seafood, I might be able to bring my own container (seafood is always wrapped in plastic, then paper) although our friend Stuart says that the stores may not allow that for health liability reasons.

Some things we may have to do without, and some alternatives are going to involve more time and/or more money. This experiment will be easier for me than for many people, because I have several advantages:

• I live in the city of Seattle, which means that I happen to have a great fish market, bakery, butcher, and a selection of grocery stores for every price point, including the new PCC Natural Market that just opened in our neighborhood a few months ago;
• I work remote from home, which means that I have flexible time to say, make my own cottage cheese or drive farther;
• I can afford to pay more for non-plastic alternatives;
• There are no children in my house, which means that I don't have to deal with fallout over lifestyle changes. Although if I did have children, ideally they would be old enough to buy in to and participate in the experiment. Talk about teachable moments!

An Idea Has Formed

Most people I know use a tremendous amount of plastic in our everyday lives, and especially disposable "single-use" plastic. I got to thinking about plastic usage this past fall 2019 when I was watching the Netflix series "Rotten." Each episode discusses one aspect of food production in detail, bringing awareness to different things going on. Although I found all of them to be thought-provoking, the episode on bottled water and the consequent scourge of single-use plastic water bottles really got me thinking. A bit later on, I was watching a similar Netflix series called "Rotten", where each episode focuses on a specific industry, how it typically works in various global locations, and the effects on people and the environment. There was an episode on recycling, and how our best efforts as a human race to recycle plastic are extremely inadequate.

What to do?

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to take action and reduce my "plastic footprint". But how big is it, really? I but recyclable plastics in the recycle bin, including a plastic bag full of plastic bags. Well, not anymore. As of January 1, 2020, City of Seattle doesn't accept plastic bags for recycling (they gum up and contaminate the works), but you can take bags of bags to the grocery stores, where they have special receptacles for them. The Fred Meyer in Ballard and the Fred Meyer in Greenwood both have them. So I've been doing that. For information about drop-off places in your area, go to https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/.


This is my organization under the kitchen sink. My plastic bags for recycling could be cleaner...

But what else? There is much more to do. After talking about it with my boyfriend (and housemate) Thom, I proposed that we attempt to minimize our plastic usage for the month of February 2020. He agreed! Since it is impossible to completely eliminate single-use plastic, I am planning to use a special bin to collect all our single-use plastic for the month, and then see where we end up. Wish us luck!